On Monday August 9, the Bolivian government decided to rename a 15th century mummy “Saphi”, “roots” in the language of the Aymara, natives of Lake Titicaca. A highly symbolic ceremony.
On August 9, 2021, the 15th century mummy returned to Bolivia two years earlier was renamed Saphi.
In 1890, an American discovered the mummy of a young girl, south of La Paz, in Bolivia, and sent it to the United States, where it would be kept for almost 130 years, within from the University of Michigan Museum, before being returned to its country of origin in 2019. Two years later, on Monday August 9, 2021, the Bolivian government decided to put the mummy back in the spotlight by renaming it " Saphi" - "roots" in the Aymara language -, whereas she was hitherto known as "Ñusta" - "princess" in the Quechua language.
From the 7th century AD, the Tiwanaku civilization, of Aymara culture, flourished in the Andes, before collapsing in the 11th century, and breaking up into several lordships. Among them is the chiefdom of the Pacajes, from which the found girl seems to come, which flourishes from Lake Titicaca to Oruro. The girl of about eight years old would have lived in the first part of the 15th century. His remains were found in a chullpa , a building characteristic of pre-Inca civilizations.
The girl would have belonged to the pre-Inca nobility
The chullpas are funerary monuments in the shape of towers, rounded or rectangular, typical of the Aymara culture. The most important are found on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca - notably on the site of Sillustani near Puno in Peru - but they are also found throughout Bolivia. The Incas, originally from the Cusco region, erected it themselves after conquering the Lake Titicaca region and subjugating the Aymara culture peoples in the 15th century. The mummies found in the chullpas are most often caciques, local chiefs, to whom tributes have been paid and whose bodies have been buried in the mausoleum and locked away. Sometimes family members of the illustrious deceased were buried alongside him. For Patrice Lecoq, former teacher at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, specialist in Andean archaeology, contacted by Sciences et Avenir :"It is thus probable that the little girl belonged to the family of a cacique" , which seems to be confirmed by his braids, characteristic of belonging to the nobility.
In 1890, an American discovered the mummy of a young girl, south of La Paz, in Bolivia, and sent it to the United States, where it would be kept for almost 130 years, within from the University of Michigan Museum, before being returned to its country of origin in 2019. Two years later, on Monday August 9, 2021, the Bolivian government decided to put the mummy back in the spotlight by renaming it " Saphi" - "roots" in the Aymara language -, whereas she was hitherto known as "Ñusta" - "princess" in the Quechua language.
From the 7th century AD, the Tiwanaku civilization, of Aymara culture, flourished in the Andes, before collapsing in the 11th century, and breaking up into several lordships. Among them is the chiefdom of the Pacajes, from which the found girl seems to come, which flourishes from Lake Titicaca to Oruro. The girl of about eight years old would have lived in the first part of the 15th century. His remains were found in a chullpa , a building characteristic of pre-Inca civilizations.
The girl would have belonged to the pre-Inca nobility
The chullpas are funerary monuments in the shape of towers, rounded or rectangular, typical of the Aymara culture. The most important are found on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca - notably on the site of Sillustani near Puno in Peru - but they are also found throughout Bolivia. The Incas, originally from the Cusco region, erected it themselves after conquering the Lake Titicaca region and subjugating the Aymara culture peoples in the 15th century. The mummies found in the chullpas are most often caciques, local chiefs, to whom tributes have been paid and whose bodies have been buried in the mausoleum and locked away. Sometimes family members of the illustrious deceased were buried alongside him. For Patrice Lecoq, former teacher at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, specialist in Andean archaeology, contacted by Sciences et Avenir :"It is thus probable that the little girl belonged to the family of a cacique" , which seems to be confirmed by his braids, characteristic of belonging to the nobility.
If some child mummies became witnesses to the practice of sacrificing young people by the Incas, then this is not the case with Saphi. Indeed, human sacrifices, occasional among the Incas, following the arrival of a new Inca - emperor in Quechua - or natural disasters - such as an earthquake - are carried out at the top of the sacred mountains, and the little mummy was found south of La Paz, in a chullpa , a place that shelters and honors individuals who have experienced a "natural" death.
Inside the chullpas , the body of a deceased, placed in a fetal position, is wrapped in several layers of clothing and fabrics, then surrounded by offerings and personal objects:coca leaves, chicha (traditional corn-based drink) , jewelry, ceramics. The latter are also particularly valuable for researchers, tells us, from experience, Patrice Lecoq:"Their nature, their style or even their form make it possible to deduce the culture of origin of the mummy, and therefore to date his death without risking damage ". Other analyzes can be carried out in addition, the study of the teeth and the hair being able to make it possible to specify the mode of life and the cause of death. Nevertheless, the archaeologist confides to us that even if it is become very rare to find mummies, the chullpas having been the object of looting, it is not certain that such analyzes are carried out on Saphi, given its sacred character.
A ceremony with political stakes
A ritual was indeed organized, respecting Aymara traditions. A wooden altar was built to place offerings to the Pachamama ("Mother Earth"), including llama fetuses, a sacred animal, coca leaves, incense and chicha. If the Bolivian President and Vice-President spoke, the ritual was carried out by Aymara priests, recognizable by their white headdress adorned with four points from the Tiwanaku civilization, and the sermons were delivered in the native language. . "This is a typical ceremony of the Aymaras, who have the tradition of naming their members when they reach the age of one year ", explains Patrice Lecoq.
The ceremony was orchestrated by the Bolivian government on the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, August 9. Political heir to Evo Morales, President Luis Arce comes from the Movement to Socialism (MAS), a party in power since 2006 - with a short break between 2019 and 2020 - promoting the emancipation of indigenous communities and the establishment of a plurinational state. The ceremony was therefore an opportunity for Luis Arce to honor Saphi as a symbol of Bolivian Indianness and pre-Inca origins.
"Aymara culture is commonly used by MAS members ", comments Elise Gadea, doctor in socio-anthropology. The Aymara having been conquered by the Incas in the 15th century, the durability of their culture echoes the decolonial discourses of the party and highlights the resilience of the Bolivian indigenous peoples in the face of the Inca conquests. The Quechua language being that of the descendants of the Incas, the replacement of the Quechua first name of the mummy by an Aymara first name meaning “roots” is therefore loaded with meaning.